This invention relates generally to tote containers for storing, shipping, or displaying food products, and particularly to a tote container for use in transporting fresh cut asparagus and similar stalk-type vegetables and produce.
While many regions of the United States provide fertile growing conditions for vegetables and other produce, a significant percentage of produce sold and consumed in the United States is grown and imported from foreign countries. As the task of economically growing and selling fresh product is undertaken by larger agricultural concerns rather than local regional growers, the need for more versatile and reusable tote containers for harvesting, shipping, and displaying the produce has become important.
Asparagus is a pertinent example. Asparagus is grown in the states situated along the western coast of the United States, as well as the western coastal regions of Mexico, Central America, and South America. The growing and harvesting periods for the various countries overlap to some extent, but the range of growing periods throughout the coastal regions continues practically throughout the year. Therefore, asparagus is grown and harvested in a repeating yearly cycle extending from the northern coastal states of the United States to the southernmost countries in South America, and companies distributing asparagus to stores and markets within the United States may receive their product from any one of the regions then growing and harvesting asparagus.
Asparagus stalks are currently cut during harvesting, bundled, and placed in large wooden crates. The lids of the crates are nailed shut, and the asparagus or crates may be soaked in or sprayed with cold water. The crates may optionally contain pads or fabric to absorb water and keep the asparagus fresh. Produce such as asparagus will continue to grow after harvesting if the stalks are supplied with water and kept fresh, with growth of as much as 2" in asparagus tips during shipping representing a substantial increase in the quantity and quality of the produce when it arrives at the point of sale. The crates are reopened at a regional distribution center or handling facility, at which the asparagus may be cleaned or sprayed with water, rebundled or packaged, and placed into containers for delivery to individual stores or markets.